Shadow of the Horned Rat
by Mkvenner93
Summary: This is the story of a computer game from the mid 90's released on the PC and the PS1. It follows the exploits of a mercenary commander as he is embroiled in a scheme by the Skaven to destroy the Border Princes.
1. Prologue

Storm clouds gather over the Border Princes, unnoticed by a reclusive wizard engrossed in his profound discovery: An Elfish crystal altogether with something far more sinister.

Thunder crackled around a small stone tower hidden deep within the territories of the Border Princes. Inside, a wizard sat at an old oaken desk, scratching writings onto a scroll. The crystal sat beside the scroll, and it was was glowing faintly. The wind howled around the window beside him and blew one of his scrolls off the table. He grunted in frustration and picked it up.

At the gate to this tower appeared a Skaven, a ratman. It crept towards the entrance to the tower. As a member of the Clan Eshin, this Skaven was adept in the art of stealth and assassination. It entered the tower and quietly neared the wizard at work. Despite his focus being on the crystal, the wizard sensed the Skaven and got up.

"Prepare to die, sewer fiend," he said and started the incantation to cast a fireball.

But before he could unleash it, a second Skaven appeared from the shadows, grabbed him from behind and slit his throat. The wizard slumped to the ground.

"Die-die, sewer fiend," the second Skaven, Skarfester, sneered at the dead wizard and cackled. "Enough, Gutter-runner. Look-search, warpstone," the first ratman, Rancid, said. They searched to room for a few seconds, before spying the crystal on the desk.

"Ahhhhhhhh, waaaarpstoone" Skarfester said, picking up the crystal.

"Thanquol, hate-hate. Hmmmm, Grey Seer though. Thanquol pay much-much. Good. Like-like, hate-hate" Rancid said. After a quick examination failed to turn up anything else of use, they quickly left the tower and fled the scene.


	2. Protect Schnappelburg

"I have spoken to the Elder of the hamlet," Dietrich began as Morgan Bernhardnt entered the paymaster's wagon. "Schnappelburg needs hired thugs for protection against Orc and Goblin raiding parties. It is known that greenskins have established a camp somewhere in the area. Four nearby villages have been pillaged in the last three weeks. The locals live in fear of an attack. We will be stationed in this forsaken backwater for two weeks. During this time, it will be our duty to protect the peasants and their property."

Morgan looked unimpressed. "Two weeks will be enough time to find us more work-perhaps something that pays a little better. I'm tired of risking my life for peasants and ale money. How long is it since we fought under the Emperor's banner, Dietrich?"

"Three months, sire. We were hired by the Burgomaster of Nuln to clear beastmen from a road leading to the city, if I recall correctly."

"Three months? Hmph. It seems like longer." Morgan wasn't happy but he accepted the job. Work had been scarce the past few weeks.

Schnappelburg was a small village-barely a dozen houses, and a mill. Morgan entered the village before his Grudgebringers to ensure the villagers weren't intimidated by big, muscular and rugged mercenaries. A bearded man, the village elder, greeted him at the edge of the village.

"Hail, good sir. Are you the mercenary commander we hired?"

"I am. My name is Morgan Berhardnt, and my men and I are here to protect your village."

"You will get your payment when the greenskins are dead, and not a moment before."

Gunther had set up his regiment of Grudgebringers on the road the snaked past the village. Gunther was Morgan's second in command in the mercenary army, and he led the elements of their force on foot-sixteen good men including Gunther himself. Morgan, on the other hand, led a dozen or so mercenaries lucky enough to be in possession of a warhorse. Despite their small numbers and rag-tag appearance, the Grudgebringers were famed from Nuln to Tilea as some of the finest swords-for-hire in the land.

Morgan sat uneasy in his saddle as they waited for the enemy. Gunther had positioned his infantry off to the right of the village, while Morgan had kept the cavalry inside the village. He had fought Goblins before and knew that some would try to loot the village while the others fought the enemy.

After fifteen minutes of impatient waiting, the greenskins launched their attack on the village. From the forest to the north east of Schnappelburg came a party of Goblins, wielding crude spears and shields. It would be no challenge at all.

"Engage," Gunther barked at his men. The regiment wheeled around and began moving towards the goblins. Morgan spoke a command that Gunther did not here. The cavalry moved through the village towards its northern end. The villagers, who were going around their daily business, ran from side to side to avoid the hooves. Morgan halted the cavalry behind a grove of trees north of the village.

As soon as Gunther's men got to the bend in the road, more movement appeared in the forest. This time it was Goblin Wolfriders, led by the boss Blurt Reeka. This particular group had terrified the locals from a handful of villages in the area, and ravaged several. Morgan kept his cavalry in waiting behind the trees, unseen by the enthusiastic Goblins that tore towards the seemingly unguarded hamlet. Blurt clearly wanted the best loot for himself, and he would pay dearly for his greed

"Charge!" Gunther cried. The men broke formation and charged towards the encroaching Goblins. By this stage the Goblins had already gotten to the road and stood their ground against the humans. Gunther and his Grudgebringers clashed with the Goblins and broke up their formation.

Gunther stabbed his sword through one Goblin's chest and then swung his sword around to hack at the torso of a second. He lunged towards a third but was mildly shocked to find his blow parried. Gunther slashed upwards and cut the Goblin from waist to chin. He blocked a blow from another Goblin with his shield and then stabbed at the spear's owner. The offending Goblin screamed and died. Taking a second to survey the battle, he saw that his men had surrounded the Goblins and were fighting with all their skill. The Goblins, cowardly creatures that they are, were surprisingly determined in this fight, but they would soon break and flee.

"Charge!" Morgan yelled as the Wolf Riders came into view. The cavalry erupted into a gallop towards the beleaguered wolf riders. Morgan pointed Grudgebringer-the mercenary group's namesake-forward. The sword had a golden hilt with a blue sapphire set into the middle of the cross-piece, and a shining Dwarf-forged blade. A fireball erupted from the bright blade and flew towards the wolf riders. One rider in the front line was unlucky enough to be hit. It went screaming off towards the village engulfed in fire until he burnt and shriveled up and died. The riders crashed into the wolf riders with a terrible fury.

Morgan searched for Blurt. He found him hiding between two of his riders and engaged him. Grudgebringer was a fury of parries, blows and thrusts. Blurt countered Morgan and stabbed his spear towards Morgan. Morgan blocked it and their swords were a fury of sparks. Morgan switched his grip, twirled his sword sideways and swung at neck level. Blurt's helmeted head fell to the blood stained grass. In the follow-through to the swipe, Morgan stabbed drove Grudgebringer into the heart of Blurt's wolf's mouth. Grudgebringer went through the roof of the mount and into the brain of the wolf. Blurt's body slid off the wolf a moment before the wolf fell to the grass, twitching and yelping. Morgan acknowledged his handiwork and then entered the battle proper.

He charged at a wolf rider and cleaved the Goblin in the head. The Goblin never even got a scream off. For a second time, a fireball leapt from the tip of his magical blade and hit an unfortunate Goblin. His horse whinnied and bucked, and Morgan saw a spear barely miss his horse's flank. His sword knocked the weapon aside, and promptly slew the attacker.

Gunther swung his sword and hacked off the head of a Goblin. His men had pushed the Goblins into a tight circle and they were slowly killing off the outer ranks of Goblins. Since there were no archers on either side, they had to rely on brute force and skill to get at the inner ranks. These Goblins were hell-bent on fighting to the last; it appeared that they refused to flee. The fight was tough going and Gunther was exhausted. He hacked at a Goblin's head and swung his sword at another's chest. He stabbed through two Goblins and jumped further in. A particularly large Goblin loomed before him, carrying a sword definitely not of Goblin or Orc make. Without the skill to wield it, though, this Goblin basically had little more than a club. Gunther caught the first three strikes the Goblin made on his shield, and rammed his sword forward. The blade pierced the Goblin's gut, and it collapsed dead. With this Goblin's death, the Goblins cried out in terror and fled from the swordsmen.

"Destroy them," Gunther ordered. They ran after the goblins.

"They're headed back to the forest," a man shouted. Gunther caught up with a straggler and struck at its back. It screamed and collapsed. His men did likewise, catching each Goblin and slaying it. A trail of blood and dead bodies soon ran from the road towards the forest. The last of the Goblins fell among the fringe of the forest, ensuring no Greenskins remained to return. "Regroup" Gunther growled, and halted to catch his breath. He had been fighting for longer than any other man in their group, and his age was beginning to tell.

The infantry wheeled around and started for the wolf riders, but by this stage the mounted greenskins had broken. The wolves were too slow to escape full sized warhorses, and the goblins were run down with brutal effectiveness by Morgan's cavalry. While Morgan pursued the last few goblins, Gunther examined the sword he had taken from the Goblin. It was of Dwarf make, that much was sure. The blade could be magical, and he made a mental to check later.

Morgan returned to the village elder, who was out examining the battlefield.

"Your men do their job well," he remarked, kicking a dismembered Goblin corpse. "You'll get your gold sure enough. We owe you our lives. These goblins would have razed the village to the ground for sure if you hadn't been there."

Morgan took the bag of gold without comment, and counted it sadly. He hadn't lost any men in that skirmish, but the gold the village provided would barely pay for the cost to and from the village. He did a quick calculation in his head. _There'll be nothing left once we reach Wissenheim_, he said to himself.

Meanwhile, in the cursed city of Skavenblight, Grey Seer Thanquol was harnessing the power of warpstone to create his latest monstrosity.

The cursed city was dark and empty. It's evil, corrupted streets were deserted by the foul ratmen, preferring to prowl their dark tunnels instead. Visible only in a broken grate, however, was a sickly green light beaming out as Thanquol experimented in his secret lap. Inside, a huge axe was being suspended over a tank of strange, putrescent green liquid. Two strange devices suspending it were infusing greenish lightning into the axe. In front of it all in a small control room, Thanqoul controlled the machine. While he was doing this, he chattered to himself. "Ahhhhh….yeeeesssss. Warp power. Cleeaaaanse! Buuurrrrnnn! Axe of kill-kill, carnage! Horned Rat be pleased! Horned Rat be pleased! Thanquol shall ruuuulllleee."


End file.
